DUBAI: Argentinian coach Marcelo Gallardo is set to lead a Saudi Riyadh Season select team in an exhibition match against French champions Paris Saint-Germain, Chairman of the Riyadh Season Turki Al-Sheikh said in a tweet in the early hours of Friday.
Gallardo, the former River Plate, Monaco and PSG coach, will oversee the team — which is made up of Saudi football stars from Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr — in the Riyadh Season Cup, which was announced last October.
The match raises the intriguing possibility of new Al-Nassr signing Cristiano Ronaldo facing his long-time rival and PSG star Lionel Messi, fresh from winning the World Cup with Argentina last month.
The Riyadh Season Cup will take place on Jan. 19 at King Fahd International Stadium in the Saudi capital.
Alongside Messi, in Paris Saint-Germain’s ranks will be Brazil’s Neymar and France World Cup final hat-trick hero Kylian Mbappe, while the select team includes the likes of Matheus Pereira and Odion Ighalo of Al-Hilal, and Alvaro Gonzalez and Talisca of Al-Nassr.
